NYCM Training: Week 15 Recap

The hard part is over. Now it's time to taper.

Total Weekly Mileage: 58 miles

Monday: 10.2 mile tempo run at 7:23/mile pace
After a 6am flight to DC and grocery shopping, I hit the roads to get in 10 miles. I had missed both of my runs over the weekend and my legs were feeling terrific. There were a few notable things about this run.

1. I was almost mistaken as a tree by a squirrel that was running so fast that it couldn't process where it was going. A guy passing me on a bike thought it was hilarious. So did I.
2. I was cruising along when I passed a guy going up a giant hill around mile 6. He ended up staying with me, but since I couldn't let him pass me, I kicked up the pace. We ran fast, really fast, for two miles, before I headed down a road to go back home. He was breathing heavily and coughing by the end, I was feeling awesome, and my breathing was very regulated. I can't help but enjoy running faster than a guy. 
3. The headache that I had had for 3 days finally went away by the time I finished this run. It is amazing how horrible my body begins to feel when I am less active. I am so thankful to be able to run every day. 

Tuesday: 5.8 miles at 7:42 pace
I ran a little bit with the kids while they did a hill workout at practice, then finished up my daily mileage with another quick run at home. It was dark by the time I got home, and it was also another cool running day (64 degrees compared to the 54 degrees on Monday).

Wednesday: Day off!

Thursday: 1 mile with kiddos and 6.4 miles at 7:33 pace
The kids had a workout at a nearby park, so I didn't run much at practice. By the time I got home it was dark and cool. I wanted to run somewhere where I knew there was plenty of light, and just ended up doing an out and back along my street. My training program calls for a 10 mile tempo run on Thursdays, but since I had already done it on Monday, I decided to do a 6.4 mile tempo run instead. My body felt amazing and had a lot of energy in it. It is really too bad that my race hadn't been this week considering how well I felt each time I went running.

Friday: 10.2 miles with Tom at 7:37 pace.
I got home around 6 from practice and still needed to get in my long run. Tom decided to join me, even though he had already ran 5 miles in the morning! It was really nice to have someone to talk to the whole time, and also to have someone to run with in the dark. We did the same loop I did on Monday, and I was relieved to see that we ran it about 2 minutes slower, even if the pace was faster than what it should have been.

Poor Tom, who had not been planning to run again, was starving the entire run. I was a horrible girlfriend and kept talking about food, making it all that much worse for him. He devoured half of our kitchen when we got home, and we decided to grab a bite to eat at Noodles & Co, instead of cooking dinner ourselves.

Saturday: 8 miles at 7:49 pace.
Uh oh. Have you noticed how fast my runs were this week? This is a bad sign. The body feels wonderful, but I know I should be holding back. I have another three weeks until the race and should not be wasting everything right now.

This morning was chilly - at 46 degrees. Everyone outside had on warmer clothing. Fortunately, it was sunny, making it a beautiful, crisp fall morning to be running in. In the middle of the run I stopped at Office Depot to get a red grading pen (somehow mine disappeared at school - go figure......). It's fun to get errands done in the middle of workouts!

Sunday: 16 miles at 8:12 pace.
Finally, a slower run. But still not slow enough. The quick running this week finally caught up with me and my right hamstring was bothering me a lot during the first half of the run. I slowed my pace slightly and shortened my stride. It helped a bit.

Refueling happened around 50 minutes into the run (Honey Stinger Waffle) and 1 hr and 27 minutes into the run (a GU pack). I have left my water bottle at home during my last two 16 mile runs. Apparently carrying it makes me think negative thoughts. Fortunately, there is a water fountain around mile 13 that I am able to stop at so I don't have to worry about dehydration.

Now that the third 16 mile run is in the books, it is time to "taper". The program I am following doesn't have a huge taper like others, and I am only given three days off between now and the race. Normally I take two days off the week before the race, so I'm not sure what I am going to do.

Hope you all have a pleasant Sunday!